Frequently Asked Questions

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There is no fee for submitting either the online or paper application.

Applicants should contact the faculty member whose research fits the closest with their interests to discuss availability of Summer Research Opportunities.

When your initial application is received by the Graduate School, you will be sent a confirming e-mail with instructions for logging into your web portal. You may check the status of your application at any time via the web portal/Husky Hub. Note that programs will generally not review applications until all materials, including letters of reference, have been received.

It is not possible to informally review your materials to determine if you would be accepted to the program of your choice. Applications are reviewed using a holistic approach. Your entire application is reviewed, along with those in the applicant pool, to determine which students will succeed at Michigan Tech and contribute to the research needs of your program. Some programs have admissions guidance to aid in evaluating your own materials.

You are not required to identify an advisor before you arrive on campus. It is expected that you will identify an advisor during or before your second semester on campus. You are encouraged, however, to initiate conversations with faculty in your program to help define your research interests, identify potential funding sources, and determine courses that might best support your interests.

Information about orientation can be found on the orientation web page. All new students are required to attend the Graduate School's orientation. You will receive an invitation to orientation approximately one month in advance. If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from attending orientation, or if you are obtaining a degree via distance learning, Graduate School staff will work with you to identify alternative methods to complete the requirement.

Check program requirements to see if you will need to submit GRE scores.

Applicants whose native language is not English must supply results of an English proficiency examination.

Yes, you will need to fill out two application forms and provide two copies of supporting documents.

Applicants are automatically considered for internal funding through teaching/research assistantships. Applicants can also apply for external funding opportunities, or inquire with faculty who have who have recently been awarded research funding.

After admission has been approved and all financial documents are in order.

Student can browse available rentals prior to arriving on campus. On-campus housing is also available.

Applications will be kept on file for one year after the first day of the term for which you apply.

Yes, Little Huskies Child Care is available.

Yes, all enrolled graduate students, with the exception of off-campus students, must have health insurance.

Yes. The student who wrote the thesis or dissertation owns the copyright and must be asked for permission. Figures are generally considered works in and of themselves and do not usually constitute a small portion of the work. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

Yes. Your advisor cannot grant you permission to use material since the publisher now owns the copyright. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

Usually. Unless you have retained the rights to the article, the publisher now owns the copyright and only the publisher can grant permission. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

Usually. When you sign the copyright transfer agreement, you transfer the copyright to the publisher. Some publishers allow you to retain certain rights, which might include reprinting the article in a thesis. Either way, you should document that you have permission to use the article or have retained the right to publish the article. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

Usually. All web pages are copyrighted, and most have a legal notices page that details their policies and procedures. Material on the web - although easy to get - is still copyrighted in the same way as a book or journal article. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

It depends. If you published any of the material in a journal or book, you will need to abide by the copyright transfer agreement you signed with the publisher. If the material has not been published elsewhere, you retain the copyright to your thesis, and do not have to ask permission.

Most publishers respond quickly to requests for permission. Publishers, however, are under no obligation to respond. If they don't respond, your best course of action is to remove the material from your thesis or dissertation.

Yes. You own the copyright to something as soon as you create it. It does not matter if the material has been published or not. You should give credit to the photographer in the caption of the figure and obtain a permission letter.

It depends. Significant modifications result in a figure that is uniquely yours. The source of the inspiration or base of the figure must be acknowledged in your caption. To clarify the source and figure creator, we recommend a credit line in your caption similar to, "Figure adapted by author from SOURCE." where SOURCE would be replaced with an appropriate citation. If the figure is just a tracing of the original figure, or does not contain a significant amount of creativity, you have not created it, and must ask for permission.

No. Data cannot be copyrighted, so you are free to use data to create any figure you like. The source of the data must be properly acknowledged, however, and a plain citation can cause the reader to believe that the figure (and not just the data) was taken from the source. To clarify confusion and properly identify the source and figure creator, we recommend a credit line in your caption similar to, "Figure created by author from data in SOURCE." where SOURCE would be replaced with an appropriate citation.

Fair use is complicated, and in reality, the courts determine if your use is fair. Putting copyrighted material in a thesis or dissertation is not the same as photocopying an article, or using a figure from the internet for a paper submitted to a professor for class. Things that are definitely not fair use include long quotations, whole journal articles and most figures from any source. Additional information can be found Part I (why use of materials in a thesis/dissertation is not always fair use) and Part III (some examples of fair use) of ProQuest/UMI's guide to copyrighted materials.

Unless figures are truly in the public domain, US Copyright Law protects images and words from any source from being copied into your thesis or dissertation. The same laws protect you against others copying your work and placing it in their documents without your permission. If you are the author of the journal article, consult the copyright transfer agreement you signed to see what rights you retained as an author. If you are not the author of the material, contact the publisher to obtain permission to use the material. Most publishers have a form that can be filled out on their web page to request permission. Please see our copyright page for more information about how to request and document permission to use materials in your thesis or dissertation.

US Copyright Law does allow limited use of copyrighted material under the "fair use" doctrine. This permits you to use limited portions of copyrighted material in any document you publish. Please see the Copyright Office FAQ to assist you in determining if the work you want to use is considered fair use, or if you need to ask permission. Typically, quotations of less than one page are considered fair use, but reproduction of a figure from a journal or web page is not.

TD-Review is provided as a sample for your information. It is specifically designed not to be printed, since the Graduate School completes and returns this form for you. The Degree completion and Pre-defense forms require the use of Adobe Acrobat or Reader (v8.0 or newer) due to the extensive scripting present in them.  These forms are also "reader enabled" allowing you to use them on any computer with Adobe Reader. We recommend downloading the newest version of Acrobat Reader if the software you have isn't working. Preview on a Mac does not work with these forms.

Complete the Pre-defense form and submit to the Graduate School two weeks before your defense. Two weeks before your oral defense, you must submit a draft your thesis or dissertation to Dr. Charlesworth in 407A, Administration Building. Your electronic version must be a single PDF file. This does not need to be the copy you submit to your committee, but it should demonstrate that you are ready to defend your work.

The Graduate School (specifically Dr. Charlesworth) will review your document to ensure that it meets the required submission guidelines as well as adheres to US Copyright Law. Reviewing your document prior to your oral defense will ensure that you have all of the corrections necessary to complete this degree requirement in a timely fashion after your oral defense. If you do not complete the required changes, your final document will not be approved, and there will be delays for your graduation.

Plagiarism is when you use somebody else's words but do not give them credit. When you use any text from a document written by somebody else, you must not only use a citation, but you must also write the statements in your own words. This is called paraphrasing. Other acceptable methods include placing the copied materials in quotations or a block quote.

A block quote is an indented section of text. It is used to indicate that a larger section of text has been copied from another source. Both quotations and block quotes require citations to indicate the source of the material. A block quote is generally appropriate when more than 100 words or eight lines of text have been used from the source material.

Technically, you cannot plagiarize yourself. Plagiarism is defined as using the words of somebody else and representing them as your own. It is inappropriate, however, to simply copy and paste the methods section of a journal article and submit it to another journal. These materials have been published by another journal, and the copyright transfer agreement you or your advisor signed with them may prevent you from reusing the words in another paper.

No, it is not. A citation merely indicates the source of the material. Without quotations or a block quote, you are telling the reader that you wrote the words. If you did not paraphrase the material you cited, this is plagiarism. See "What is plagiarism?" for more information.

Paraphrasing involves re-writing a sentence from someone else using your own words and way of expressing yourself. Paraphrasing includes changing the order of presenting information in addition to the words used. Dr. Gratz has prepared some excellent examples of paraphrasing.

Embedded fonts are included in the PDF file. This allows everyone to read your document even if they don't have a copy of the font that you used in your document.

This depends on what software you are using. It is an option in your PDF converter before you create your PDF file. Once your PDF file is created, there is no way to embed the fonts in your document. If you are using Adobe Acrobat to convert your document to a PDF file, search the help for "embedding fonts" to find instructions for your version of Acrobat. ProQuest provides a help page about creating PDFs that you may also find useful.

Open the pdf of your thesis or dissertation in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Go to File...Properties and select the "Fonts" tab. Next to every listed font, the text (Embedded) or (Embedded Subset) will appear if the font is embedded. For ProQuest/UMI, all fonts except "Times", "Arial/Helvetica" and "Courier" must generally be embedded.

If the map is larger than 8.5 x 11, but smaller than 11 x 17, simply place the map in the pdf file where you would like it to appear. On the Degree completion form, select "yes" for the question "Do you have any pages that are larger than 8.5 x 11 inches?" and provide the information requested.

If the map is larger than 11 x 17, the bindery can construct a pocket for you. You may either print the map yourself with the number of copies equaling the number of bound volumes you order, or the bindery can print the map for you. There are additional charges for this and the Graduate School can help determine those for you. Answer "Yes" to the question "Do you want a media pocket?" on the Degree Completion form, and provide the information requested.

On the Degree completion form, answer "Yes" to the question, "Do you want a media pocket?" and complete the prompts that appear.  When you submit your final documents to the Graduate School, provide enough copies of the CD to place one in each bound volume you order. There is an additional charge for this, but it is a good option if there is an extensive amount of data to archive with the thesis or dissertation.

Please see our Copyrighted Materials page for assistance.

Currently, theses and dissertations are only available electronically for those students who request it. An ETD can be requested by selecting the appropriate options on the pre-defense form.

An ETD can be requested by selecting the appropriate options on the Pre-defense form.

ProQuest/UMI has been publishing scholarly work for nearly 70 years. Its primary purpose is to archive graduate research and provide greater accessibility to it. Even if you make your thesis or dissertation available at the J. R. Van Pelt Library, patrons would need to search the catalog at Michigan Tech to find it. Every work published with ProQuest/UMI is accessible through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database, so this is a primary source for scholars to find graduate research. In addition, their archival services provide an off-site source for your work in the event that your work is lost from the J. R. Van Pelt Library. Publication with ProQuest/UMI is required for PhD candidates and optional for Master's candidates.

They don't—most of the time. If you choose to professionally bind your report, select "Ordering bound copies of my report" on the Degree completion form, and submit your report online.  You must follow the requirements for page size (8.5 x 11), margins (1.5" on the binding edge, 1" for all others) and file type (single pdf file). The Graduate School encourages, but does not require, that all students completing reports adhere to these formatting requirements. All reports, however, must have a title and approval ("signature") page that follow the sample formats for MS students. Replace the word "thesis" with "report" and ensure the degree program on the title page and department on the signature page are correct. These pages are used by the Library to catalog your report.

Dr. Charlesworth has been using Microsoft Word since 1989, and word processors since the dawn of personal computers (in her case, 1981). It is likely that she can assist you with most of your questions. She has prepared a presentation that includes some of her most popular tips and tricks. Students who would like to use LaTeX may find the materials prepared by a former graduate student at Michigan Tech to be helpful.

• S. Gowtham's website—includes LaTeX template and instructions
• Web-based utility to generate LaTeX expressions in graphical format

The Graduate School staff do not have experience using LaTeX. Since LaTeX is an open source program and has a wide community of users, we encourage users to seek assistance through other users. An alumnus of Michigan Tech, S. Gowtham, has created a web site and LaTeX templates that he has made available to the world. His resources can be found here:

• S. Gowtham's website—includes LaTeX template and instructions
• Web-based utility to generate LaTeX expressions in graphical format

The availability of these templates does not indicate Graduate School approval of them. If you do choose to use LaTeX, please understand how the language works. The Graduate School may request changes in the future that are not covered by these templates, or you may want to make your own stylistic choices. Do not use these templates as a substitute for learning the basics of LaTeX yourself.

At the current time, the Graduate School does not have any requirements for the spacing of your document. Choose the spacing that works for you.

Your professional career will involve producing proposals, papers, and other reports. The quality of these reports will reflect on your ability as a professional in your field. Learning how to format your thesis or dissertation will help you to format all types of documents in the future. Additionally, there are a number of stylistic choices about the thesis or dissertation that are up to you. The Graduate School does not want to force you to fit your thoughts and words into one style, and there is not a single style that is appropriate for all fields of study at Michigan Tech. If you have not yet published in a journal, take some time to look at the requirements for different journals in your field. You will note that none of them are the same, although most are similar. To publish your work, you will need to adapt to a wide variety of style requirements throughout your career, and this training begins with publishing your thesis or dissertation.

The Graduate School is maintaining a list of approved editors for theses and dissertations. Contact Dr. Charlesworth for a current listing. This is a paid service, but if you require extensive grammatical correction, it is well worth the investment. We also encourage you to seek the guidance of the Writing Center very early if you anticipate that writing will be difficult for you. The Writing Center can best help you if you begin the writing process with them, although they can provide walk-in assistance at any time. They can review your writing on a weekly basis and provide assistance with writing your thesis, dissertation, job search materials, oral presentation and much more. They are particularly skilled at working with students for whom English is a second language.

Before accepting any publishing offer, students should carefully read the copyright transfer agreement or publishing contract. An agreement like this is required before your work is published in any form, because a publisher cannot reprint your words without your permission. In the Graduate School, for example, students sign the pre-defense form prior to publishing a thesis, report or dissertation. This agreement grants Michigan Tech a non-exclusive license to archive their work and allows the library to make limited photocopies under certain circumstances. Students retain all other ownership rights, except those that relate to proprietary information. The ownership of proprietary information is covered under the MTU Operating Procedures Manual in Section 11.1.

The Graduate School cannot provide legal advice about contracts, but some general guidance is that students should be focusing on peer reviewed, high quality journal publications at this stage in their career. If parts of the thesis or dissertation have already been published in journals, a book publisher may not be able to reprint the work. If the thesis or dissertation is published as a book, the student may not be able to publish parts of their thesis or dissertation in a journal at a later date.

Specifically, VDM Verlag contacts many students about publishing their thesis or dissertation as a book. From the information the Graduate School can find, VDM Verlag is a legitimate publisher. This e-mail does not appear to be a scam. The book is not peer reviewed, however, so it will not significantly enhance the student's publication record.

A Google search yielded a few sources specifically about VDM Verlag and student's experience publishing. Inclusion of these pages does not endorse any of these opinions. Students are encouraged to investigate the publisher and their publishing options independently.

• Message board post on "The PhD Forums"